NOT for nothing is oil called black gold but when it comes to North Sea exploration there is a real danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Britain needs to secure the long-term future of the North Sea oil industry[GETTY]

The industry’s glory days are long gone but reports of its demise have been overdone and it still attracts £14billion of investment, generates turnover of £35billion and supports 450,000 jobs.

It also generates £4.7billion for the Treasury’s coffers but trying to squeeze out too much in taxes could backfire.

The Government yesterday launched a consultation process with the industry about tax. North Sea reserves are shrinking and while there are an estimated 24 billion barrels of oil and gas still to recover, those left are costly and difficult to tap.

It is a delicate balancing act. The country badly needs the money but if firms feel they are being penalised they will simply direct their rigs to other parts of the world. This is an important chance to secure the future of the industry and keeping the taxes rolling in. The Government must not fluff it.

It is a delicate balancing act

Nobody would expect a firm to be successful if it did not invest in good equipment.

The same should be true of nurturing talented managers but according to a new report called Management 2020 this is low down the list of priorities for too many companies.

The report says the country will need one million new managers by 2020. Yet about three-quarters of firms surveyed admit they offer poor training or none at all and two-thirds have little or no contact with schools, colleges or universities.

No wonder the Commission on the Future of Management and Leadership, which produced the report, warns there is a “ticking time bomb of short-sighted management”.

At the heart of the crisis is too much focus on short-term financial goals and not enough on longer-term, broader objectives.

As a country we are failing to invest in the managers of the future, putting our long-term global competitiveness at risk.